CBF is pleased to announce Lucia Cruz has been promoted to Assistant Manager of the Deposit Operations Department. Mrs. Cruz has been part of the Community Bank Financial Family for seven years and has previous experience in the bank’s Deposit Operations and Electronic Banking Departments. Her current responsibilities include supervisory duties such as training new employees, cross training current employees and serving as back up for all of the positions within the department. She has pursued her education in order to prepare herself for advancement and has earned several American Institute of Banking Certificates, including the Supervisor Certificate, Team Leader Certificate and Bank Operations Diploma. She has also completed numerous Center for Financial Training Certificates, including the Banking Today Certificate, Law and Banking Principles, Law and Banking Applications and Business Writing.

Lucia was born in Ecuador and currently lives in Florida City. She has four beautiful grandchildren and is excited she will be celebrating her 20th wedding anniversary this December. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering at Mercy Hospital and local soup kitchens, as well as reading, horseback riding and gardening. Enthusiastic about her new promotion, Lucia states, “Community Bank is a wonderful place to work, it makes me feel emotionally vested in my community.”

CBF was proud to sponsor their 13th Annual Scholastic Breakfast for Coral Shores High School! The breakfast recognizes the top 20 graduating students and their parents. Although the weather was dreary, the mood inside the banquet facility at the Marriott Key Largo Bay Beach Resort was upbeat.

Principal David Murphy gave a warm welcome and introductions. He impressed the audience with some information on the group of students: five of the students held a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout their high school tenure and most of the group would be entering college as sophomores due to the numerous Advanced Placement Courses they had taken while at Coral Shores. His introduction was followed by Monroe County Schools Superintendent Jesus Jara, who greeted the crowd and thanked both the parents and the school faculty for helping the students achieve such success.

After enjoying breakfast, Robert L. Epling, President and CEO of Community Bank, was introduced as the guest speaker. Mr. Epling reminded the students they were the scholars of today and the leaders of tomorrow. He paraphrased former Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall, stating “none of us got here by pulling up our own bootstraps; someone bent over and helped us pull up our boots.” He told the audience the story of his first year at college and how his mother helped him get through being home-sick. He said that having his mom there to pull up his bootstraps and perseverance were what made his life successful. He then asked the students to take a moment to thank their parents and continue to persevere through the challenges ahead in life.

Ms. Chris Harris, the College Advisor, then introduced each student and recognized them for their impressive accomplishments throughout high school. As each student came forward, they shook hands with the Principal, the Superintendent and Mr. Epling. They were also given a motivational book; The Best Way Out is Always Through- The Power of Perseverance and the announcement was made they would all be featured in full page ads in the local newspapers.

Romey Samtani, our Campbell Square Financial Center Manager, was the latest employee to partner with the KAPOW Program to teach a local school about a career in banking. Romey was paired up with Ms. Jagielski’s second grade class at Redondo Elementary. At the end of the program, the students were happy to visit our Campbell Square office to learn what CBF employees do on a day-to-day basis and how we help our customers. The kids enjoyed talking to customers who visited the teller line and helping them open new accounts. They were excited to learn how a bank operates and loved their new CBF bookbags.

KIDS AND THE POWER OF WORK (KAPOW) is a program of the National Child Labor Committee. It is a national network of business and elementary school partnerships which introduces students to career awareness through professionally developed lessons taught by business volunteers in the classroom. In addition, students make one visit to the workplace to participate in hands-on activities. KAPOW lays a foundation for young students, introducing them to work related concepts and experiences that can be continually reinforced throughout the formative years.

On Monday, May 28th, we pause to observe Memorial Day. Our financial centers will be closed to honor all Americans who have passed away while serving in the United States Armed Forces. They have paid the price for freedom and we are grateful.